Shadows in the Sunlight"And so, we bid our final farewell to a trainer who was with us from the beginning. A warrior who seemed to know no fear. A young man who refused to surrender and would never quit. A leader who led his team into the teeth of an enemy stronghold and got them out again, but was unable to escape himself. And though we all feel great sorrow at his passing, we must know that the goal he risked and ultimately spent his life forwarding has come to pass. Team Rocket has retreated into their blasted corner of the world. Kanto is free once again. And I think that Ash Ketchum, wherever he is, is happy about that."
Artemis fell silent at last, her voice tired from the lengthy eulogy she had delivered. It was truly a time of sadness tempered with joy. Joy because they had won, sadness for two reasons. One was the loss of the young captain whose portrait sat amid a pile of flowers. The other was the fact that they were losing each other as well. With Team Rocket gone, the Pokémon Resistance was disbanding for good.
She looked out at the rows of faces, knowing that it was for the best, indeed that it was the goal they had fought for: a return to normal times, restoration of their way of life. They all wanted this, but it was still the end of an era in their lives.
One by one, she surveyed the faces of her friends. Misty Arewt, sitting in silence and dabbing her eyes with a tissue. She would be returning to Cerulean City in an effort to rebuild the Cerulean Gym. Fergus, another Water Pokémon specialist, would be going with her, to help out. The daunting task would require a great effort on both their parts.
And then there was Professor Oak and his grandson Gary, sitting together and staring into space. The Professor would be getting his lab back in order. Gary would be resuming his Pokémon trainer's journey. Both still bore signs of their long imprisonment and abuse at the hands of the Rockets. It would be years before they completely recovered.
Nicky Hart sat next to Melanie Kowalski, the girl who had raised him, tears flowing unashamedly down his face. Ash Ketchum had been his hero, and he didn't care who knew it. He would be returning to the abandoned Pokémon spa in Hidden Village with Melanie to help her get it going again. Once that was done, he would begin his own trainer's journey. Picky and Pichu sat together in the chair next to them, mourning their own loss: Ash's Pikachu had been taken with him. He had not been poisoned, so he could still be alive somewhere, but the odds of him returning were remote.
Colonel Surge would be returning to his gym to get it operating again, of course. Emily and her uncle Faulkner would be returning to Johto, the land they had originally hailed from. Heinrich and his team of Diglett and Dugtrio would begin working to plant forests. Steven would resume his training, wherever he had come from (no one really knew). Professor Cordoba planned to do some further studies of Thunderstones and humans, for military purposes. Nurse Joy and the surviving Officer Jennies would resume their duties. Only James would remain with Artemis: the two of them were prominent members of RocketWatch, a branch of the Pokémon Militia dedicated to making sure the Rockets could never again do what they had done.
Artemis realized that her audience still awaited her final words. "As the time comes for us to go our seperate ways, I hope we never forget a lesson that young Ash never failed to help us remember. We are family, and family is forever."
A dark underground complex, far below the lifeless salt flats on Northern Zento. Lighting at this depth was entirely artificial. The air whispered silently and endlessly through recyclers. No one would have guessed, walking across this blighted place, that a colony of hundreds worked and prospered, directly below his or her feet.
Professor Cherry, expert in physiology, walked wearily to the innermost office and pressed the buzzer next to the black steel door that deperated this office from the rest of the complex.
"Who's there?" A cold, male voice.
"It's me," Cherry said. "I have news about 9A."
"Enter." The black door slid soundlessly open. If not opened, it was virtually impenetrable by anything short of a nuclear weapon.
Cherry stalked into the room. He had the run of the complex, and he was generally treated with respect, but the fact remained, he was a prisoner. He missed his family. He hadn't seen them for three years, didn't even know if they were still alive. He glared at the shadowy figure responsible.
"Report," the man said coldly. The coquettish and scantily-clad 19-year-old redhead next to him giggled at Cherry's obvious nervousness. "Jessie, be quiet," the man in the shadows snapped.
"I was able to save 9A," Cherry said. "It wasn't easy. I didn't even know what he was poisoned with."
"The fact that he was able to shoot bolts of lightning should have been a clue," the supreme commander of Team Rocket snarled.
"It was. And I was able to filter the toxins out of his system." Cherry paused. "But that's not all."
"What more is there? He's alive, right?"
"Yes, and he's stable." Cherry took a deep breath. "I was expecting, once the Thunderstone toxins were gone, that the electrical energy in his body would subside."
"It hasn't?" A hint of surprise.
"No. Believe it or not, the kid's basic physiology has been altered. He's actually generating electricity on his own now."
"How is that possible?" the boss queried.
"Well, the human body generates electricity anyway. His cells are just producing far more, and they're storing it. I think the changes to him that the Thunderstone produced may be permanant."
"Interesting. This warrants further study. But take all necessary securitty precautions. If what you say is true, he could be extremely dangerous."
"Understood."
"If he escapes, your family will suffer. See to it."
Cherry gritted his teeth. "Yes, sir."
In Bed 9A of the Rockets' subterranean emergency ward, Ash Ketchum slept peacefully. He was lightly sedated, so he would not awaken until Cherry and his cohorts wanted him to. And so, he remained blissfully ignorant of the nightmarish experiences that lay ahead. He was a prisoner of Team Rocket, an organization that was notorious for cruelly treating their prisoners. And none of his friends had any idea that he had survived.
"The light is fading from the day.
The rest is darkness and dismay."
—E. Gorey
© Oddish c.2000
